This invention contains the same subject matter as the contents of Disclosure Document 68509 filed February 13, 1978 in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Soccer which is the most popular spectator sport in the world has recently gained in popularity in the United States to the point where it is now rivaling baseball as the largest participant sport in this country. To date there have only been a handful of simulated soccer type games representations of which can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,025,073; 4,009,881; 4,018,443; 4,007,932 and 4,042,239 which would allow the players to recreate the strategy and movement of a soccer ball on a playing field.
Most of the prior art devices are large and cumbersome, expensive to manufacture, involve complex mechanical linkages and require highly developed manual dexterity techniques for their operation. These games also are deficient in restricting the number of players that can be actively involved and participate in the playing of the game. These games are further plagued by multiple components which can be broken or misplaced thereby preventing the game from functioning in its intended manner.
To date there has not be a simple, compact, inexpensive simulted soccer game devised which very closely approximates the movement of the soccer ball across the playing field in an actual game, which forces or encourages the players to use the same strategy which is employed under actual playing conditions, and yet is simple to understand, operate and enjoy.